About us
The Virtual College
The Virtual College is a Pupil Referral Unit funded by Birmingham City Council. It is an alternative provision to mainstream education. The Virtual College office is based in Erdington, but our students are taught both in their homes and at various locations throughout the city of Birmingham.
Our students
The Virtual College is for people in year 10 to 11 who do not have a school placement. We recognise that some students have been out of school for a long time and consequently our learning program starts slowly and gradually builds up to full time. We provide a different approach for young people - creating a bridge between school and work or further training.
Our teaching methodology
- Every young person is linked with a Virtual College tutor, who develops a learning package that is tailored to the student's needs. Generally, learning packages involve one-to-one tuition, learning through the Internet, face to face group work, work experience, et cetera.
- Tutoring starts in the home. When students have demonstrated their commitment to the VC by attending sessions at home, there is an expectation that they will begin to work with VC tutors outside the home. We aim for students to access their learning opportunities for up to 25 hours a week, as and when they are ready to do so. We understand that students develop at their own pace, and only introduce them to other pupils when they feel confident enough to engage with them. Some of the curriculum is accessed online and, consequently, every student will be loaned a laptop for the duration of the course.
- Every student sets targets with their tutor and reviews their progress regularly. We set targets for our students in the core subjects - ICT, numeracy and literacy - and for the development of social skills. We also work with students in order to help them identify their goals and aspirations and set targets to achieve these.
- Finally, a carefully planned exit strategy is negotiated with each student - leading to further education, training or work. An important part of planning for the future is to match each student with a Connexions adviser in their local area, who will help them to identify appropriate college or training places. Connexions advisers continue to work with our students after they have left the Virtual College.